Jazz
Improvisation, swing, and the blues.
Jazz emerged in New Orleans in the early twentieth century, drawing on blues, ragtime, spirituals, brass band music and West African rhythmic practice. It is a music of improvisation, and that is its defining feature rather than any particular instrument or harmony.
What makes it jazz
- Improvisation — soloists invent over an agreed harmonic structure.
- Swing — an uneven subdivision of the beat that resists exact notation.
- Blue notes — flattened third, fifth and seventh, sitting between the notes of the Western scale.
- Call and response — a phrase answered by another player or the ensemble.
- Syncopation — accents placed off the expected beat.
Styles in order
| Style | Era | Character |
|---|---|---|
| New Orleans / Dixieland | 1900s–20s | Collective improvisation by the front line |
| Swing / big band | 1930s–40s | Arranged, danceable, large ensembles |
| Bebop | 1940s | Fast, harmonically complex, for listening not dancing |
| Cool | 1950s | Restrained, lighter tone |
| Hard bop | 1950s–60s | Blues and gospel brought back in |
| Modal | 1960s | Scales rather than chord changes as the basis |
| Free | 1960s | Fixed structure abandoned |
| Fusion | 1970s | Rock and funk rhythms, electric instruments |